The field of the invention relates generally to turbine assemblies and, more particularly to a retaining clip for aligning shroud overhang of a split turbine fairing.
At least some known gas turbine engines include a stationary turbine frame that includes a central hub, an outer ring surrounding the central hub, and a plurality of struts that extend radially between the hub and the outer ring. At least some known turbine frames are positioned within the turbine engine such that the frame is exposed to hot gas path fluid flow. As such, turbine frames are generally lined with temperature resistant materials for protection from hot gas path temperatures.
In at least some known turbine frames, the struts are protected from hot gas path temperatures with a fairing. In these known assemblies, non-destructive installation of the fairing onto the strut requires splitting the fairing into forward and aft sections. The forward and aft sections of these split fairings are positioned on opposite sides of the strut and coupled together to facilitate protecting the strut. At least some known split fairings use metallic buckles to couple forward and aft fairing sections together. Furthermore, as the size of known turbine frames increases, so does the circumferential distance between struts positioned radially about the central hub. As such, to prevent the addition of more fairings to compensate for the increased distance between adjacent struts, shroud overhang of the fairings is increased. However, increasing shroud overhang increases radial motion between forward and aft sections of the split fairing. As such, known metallic buckles are unable to compensate for the increased radial motion, which limits the size and length of shroud overhang that may be implemented.